Chapter 158 Zhang Wei takes me to win the Nobel Prize
Before today, if someone told Meng Heming that he could write a high-level paper that could be published in an authoritative journal in three days, he would not believe it even if he were beaten to death.
But now, the facts are before our eyes, no matter how outrageous it is, Meng Heming can only believe it.
The key is that during these three days, Zhang Wei also took the driver's license test for one day. In other words, he only had two days to actually write the thesis!
Even if you don’t eat, sleep or go to the bathroom, two full days are equivalent to 48 hours. Can you write a paper of this level in just 48 hours? Meng Heming can only explain it by his talent.
"Don't compete with geniuses, otherwise you will feel uncomfortable!" Meng Heming comforted himself silently.
It took more than a minute for Meng Heming to regain his composure. He let out a long sigh and said, "Zhang Wei, your English skills are good. It seems that your job as an exchange student has not been in vain!"
“Don’t just look at my English proficiency, please give me some advice on how I am writing this paper!” Zhang Wei said.
"The content of the paper..." Meng Heming smiled slightly awkwardly. You can't say that I can't give guidance on this paper!
So Meng Heming had no choice but to answer: "It is written very rigorously!"
"Don't you have any questions?"
"Your scientific research results have been clearly introduced in the paper, and the experimental data are also sufficient. I don't have any questions!"
"Follow me It’s a little different from what I imagined! Shouldn’t it be a thesis defense? There are no questions!” Zhang Wei thought to himself.
Thinking of this, Zhang Wei continued: "Director Meng, why don't you take a closer look, just in case you can find some problems!"
"I've read it for the fifth time. !" Meng Heming thought to himself.
"Director Meng, I noticed that you only read the first few pages over and over again. You haven't read this last page yet!" Zhang Wei continued.
After Zhang Wei reminded him, Meng Heming realized that he hadn't read the last page about the future application directions of nucleoside modifications yet!
As a scholar, the focus is of course on scientific research results. As for the future application of scientific research results, they are not very attractive.
But now that Zhang Wei has mentioned the content of the last page, even for Meng Heming, it is completely unattractive, but he still read the last paragraph patiently.
"mRNA vaccine?" Meng Heming was suddenly confused when he saw this concept.
Of course, there is no concept of mRNA vaccine in this era, so when Meng Heming saw the mRNA vaccine, his first reaction was, what is this?
With Meng Heming’s academic level and experience, he instinctively felt that this mRNA vaccine should be a very powerful thing, but after all, this is a concept that has never appeared before. Meng Heming was only vaguely aware, but could not. Understand the meaning of mRNA vaccine now.
Zhang Wei opened his mouth and explained: "The vaccines we have used in recent years are mainly inactivated vaccines. They first cultivate viruses or bacteria in vitro, and then inactivate them through physical or chemical methods to make them lose their ability. Pathogenic ability but retained antigenicity.
When the extinguished pathogen or its parts are injected into the human body, it can stimulate the body's immune system to produce antibodies and immune memory against the pathogen, thereby achieving the purpose of preventing disease. < br>
That is to say, inactivated vaccines trigger the body's immune response by injecting inactivated pathogens or parts thereof that retain their antigenicity
The mRNA vaccine will be a brand-new vaccine. Its principle is to inject viral mRNA fragments into human cells, and the cells will generate corresponding proteins, or antigens, based on the viral mRNA fragments. Antigens stimulate an immune response and produce corresponding antibodies. "
"I understand the principle, but what are the advantages of the mRNA vaccine you are talking about compared to the traditional inactivated vaccine? "Meng Heming asked immediately.
Zhang Wei then explained: "The first advantage is safety. The mRNA vaccine only uses the genetic sequence of the virus to produce antigens. The vaccine does not carry viral components, so it will not There is a risk of infection.
Compared with traditional inactivated vaccines, although the virus is inactivated and loses its ability to cause disease, it still carries the risk of infection. Since infection occurs, there will inevitably be serious adverse reactions.
The second advantage is effectiveness. The mRNA vaccine allows the organism's own cells to produce antigens to stimulate the immune system to produce antibodies. Traditional inactivated vaccines use the antigenicity of the virus to stimulate the immune system to produce antibodies.
Effectively speaking, the antigens produced by the organism's own cells are definitely more capable of stimulating the rapid and effective operation of the immune system than foreign antigens.
The third advantage is that the vaccine development cycle and production speed will be faster. Traditional inactivated vaccines require the virus to be cultured first, then inactivated, and then made into a vaccine.
The mRNA vaccine only needs to master the genetic sequence of the virus to quickly complete the development and production process. At the current level of science and technology, it is not difficult to analyze the genetic sequence of the virus.
If you encounter a virus with a relatively fast genetic mutation, the mRNA vaccine can respond faster and a vaccine can be produced in a short time. In comparison, the cycle of inactivated vaccines is much slower. "
"In other words, this mRNA vaccine will be a safer, more effective, and faster vaccine? If it is true as you say, there is no need for inactivated vaccines! ”
Meng Heming said, frowning slightly. He was thinking about whether what Zhang Wei said was in line with scientific principles. Zhang Wei continued: "I think inactivated vaccines will definitely continue to exist for at least a few decades. After all, compared with inactivated vaccines, mRNA vaccines also have many shortcomings.
First of all, a new vaccine has just been born, and we still don’t know whether it has any adverse reactions, how many adverse reactions there are, and what the immune response is. Therefore, a large number of clinical trials are needed to verify its safety and effectiveness.
Secondly, the transportation conditions will definitely be harsh. mRNA is a single-stranded ribonucleic acid, which is unstable, easily degraded and has a short half-life. If the temperature is too high, the vaccine will not be able to maintain its stable state. "
"If you want to keep the single-stranded ribonucleic acid in a stable state, it must be minus 70 to minus 80 degrees! Such environmental conditions are too harsh." Meng Heming said.
"That's right, that is to say, the mRNA vaccine must rely on a special cold chain system to be transported and stored. Even for short-term storage, it requires a freezer.
There are many poor countries in the world. The facilities are not perfect, and these countries do not have the ability to transport and store mRNA vaccines, so inactivated vaccines are still their only option."
Meng Heming lowered his head slightly. Continue to think about the feasibility of mRNA vaccines.
It is not difficult to obtain the genetic sequence of a virus. Once the genetic sequence of the virus is obtained, designing and optimizing the antigen sequence is just a matter of doing a few more experiments.
Once the antigen sequence is available, it can be directly inserted into plasmid DNA, and then using phagosomal RNA polymerase, mRNA can be produced in large quantities.
As long as the mRNA of the antigen sequence is available, there should be no problem in producing an mRNA vaccine.
In other words, at a technical level, there are almost no obstacles to producing mRNA.
But the key is how to ensure that the mRNA vaccine is effective!
Theoretically, it is reasonable to allow the mRNA carrying the viral antigen gene sequence to enter cells, produce antigens, and stimulate the immune system to produce antibodies. Any college student in the biology department can understand it.
But foreign mRNA itself cannot pass the immune system, so how can it enter cells, produce antigens, and stimulate antibodies?
Zhang Wei's nucleoside-modified mRNA technology obviously solves this problem. mRNA can break through the immune system and enter cells, making mRNA vaccines a reality.
After thinking about this, Meng Heming's expression suddenly became enlightened.
“Vaccine, why didn’t I expect that the technology of nucleoside modification of mRNA can be used to make vaccines! A new vaccine will be safer, more effective, and most importantly, faster!
My God, if an mRNA vaccine can really be made, the entire human immunology will change!"
At this moment, Meng Heming suddenly realized that the core of the entire paper was. The content of this section is not the previous introduction to the technology of nucleoside modification of mRNA, but the future application directions in the last paragraph.
Simply looking at the technology of nucleoside modification of mRNA, although it is a breakthrough, it is not outstanding. It may be a bit reluctant to go to the three major journals.
But if the mRNA vaccine is added to the pie, then the value of this paper will definitely be Nobel Prize-level!
A safer and more effective new vaccine means that vaccine technology will enter a new era, and humans will have more powerful tools to prevent and treat infectious diseases.
The shorter development and production cycle of vaccines means that when humans face major public health security threats, they can respond faster. Every day saved may save tens of thousands of people. life!
What's more, new vaccine technology will inevitably promote the overall development of human medicine and provide a strong impetus for biotechnology. Related fields of medicine, pharmacy, chemistry and other fields will benefit.
If this is really successful, it can be regarded as a scientific research achievement that promotes human development and progress. The Nobel Prize will be a matter of time.
More importantly, this is a scientific research result closely related to medicine and can directly save people's lives.
Staying alive is the most basic desire of human beings, but any theoretical research related to "save my dog's life" is always easier to win the Nobel Prize.
Meng Heming can even imagine that one day in the future, when mRNA vaccines, like inactivated vaccines, begin to benefit mankind on a large scale, the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine will inevitably fall on Zhang Wei's head.
Thinking of the Nobel Prize, Meng Heming suddenly felt an unreal feeling.
"Am I dreaming, right? The Nobel Prize will fall on the Department of Biology of Tsinghua University? Can I still get a Nobel Prize in my life?"
According to the rules, Zhang Wei's For this paper, Meng Heming must be signed by a second author. But now Meng Heming felt that he might not be able to afford this second author!
The second author of the Nobel Prize paper, what kind of bad luck must he have to find such a big leak!
Not to mention being the second author, even if he just signed his name on the paper, Meng Heming would wake up laughing in his dreams.
The next second, Meng Heming's eyes softened when he looked at Zhang Wei.
This person in front of me is an ancestor!
No! Even my ancestors are not so close, and they would not take me to win the Nobel Prize!
Zhang Wei felt that this look seemed familiar to him.
“Does this Director Meng also want to be my father-in-law?”
(End of this chapter)